I like the new cap on the amount of Groups a blogger on Active Rain can post to, now. And I like it when I read a post and the Group Moderator leaves a comment saying that the post isn't appropriate for that Group. As nearly as I can tell, there are two reasons people post anything to anywhere;
- They are new and are not quite certain as to what is, and what is not, acceptable. If corrected they will fall in line.
- They are trying to generate as many points as possible to skyrocket up the rankings for their particular area.
Am I missing something? Is there a cash reward for having the most points?
I had been blogging for right at a year when I stumbled onto Active Rain. I still keepthat blogup to date and in fact I still like it a little bit better. It's prettier, for lack of a better reason. But it doesn't get near the recognition from Google that Active Rain gets. Occasionally I will post one article to both because of Active Rain's superior Google recognition. And I find that odd when you consider that I use the Blogger platform and Blogger is run by Google. To make it even weirder, I get great Yahoo! search engine recognition with my other blog. But I digress...
Key Benefit of Blogging
To me, blogging is social networking. It is a chance for me to connect with the very audience I expect to find my clients from. I know it works. Basically, how it works is that people find me through various sources and then they tend to stalk me. Using IP address tracing technology I can watch them watch me. I never approach them. It's fine if they never contact me. But because my other blog is very niche orientated, when they do call me they are ALREADY CLIENTS. I don't have to explain myself to them. They are already sold on me.
Why I Love Active Rain
Active Rain provides, for me, a fantastic opportunity learn from other very accomplished bloggers. The subjects on AR tend to be agent to agent, while localism tends to be more consumer orientated. I read. I comment. I learn. I blog.
With all of the attention blogging gets from the media right now I have no doubt that AR's membership will continue to grow exponentially. There will be a constant battle on the Groups and the boards to educate the "newbies" as well as monitor the bad guys.
But I'm asking, right now, that many people out there shift their focus from points to service. Add something of value in your blogs for either other real estate agents or your consumers. Whichever.
Blogging for points is like selling a house only for the commission. You must provide a professional service geared towards the well being of your client (reader) in order to build a client base worth having.
Are you of a different opinon? Fine. But I would love to hear it.
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I think a lot of people want to skyrocket up the rankings for their particular area. My SEO is great from ActiveRain. I also write blogs directed toward the consumer, and of course, if I can rack up some points in the process... why not? :)